The future of mobility

Dr. Henrik Haenecke, left, CFO of Digitization and Finance Distribution of the BVG, Snezana Michaelis, center, board member Gewobag, and Ingmar Streese, right, State Secretary for Transport, cut a ribbon during an opening ceremony of the first Jelbi mobility hub that will allow for people to share vehicles from cars to bicycles and scooters, in Berlin on April 12. [EPA/YONHAP]

LEE DONG-HYUNThe author is a deputy head of the industry team of the JoongAng Ilbo.

Lately, Hamburg, the second-largest city in Germany, has become a testbed of mobility. Volkswagen has been testing a self-driving electric bus through a mobility service provider named MOIA this year. By 2021, 1,000 self-driving buses will be in operation.

Since last month, level 4 self-driving cars have been tested in downtown Hamburg. According to the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) classification, level 4 means that the car recognizes surroundings and can start, drive and park itself. While the driver can intervene, the car can avoid dangerous situations even when the driver loses consciousness or is unable to make judgment.

According to the German Federal Environmental Agency, 15 percent of particulate matter PM-10 and 23 percent of PM-2.5 is caused by automobile emissions. Including the dust from brakes and tires, about half of particulate matters are presumed to be produced by cars.

Volkswagen sells the most cars in the world, but ironically, the future of mobility that Volkswagen dreams of is to reduce the number of cars on the road. When car sales decrease, the car industry will inevitably hurt. If Volkswagen leads the shared vehicle development and sales, it is expected to maintain its presence in the mobility market.

The biggest goal in mobility is to resolve environmental pollution by reducing the number of cars that have only one passenger or are parked in parking lots.

It is not to create alternative taxis that do their jobs rather than refuse customers, or to create more expensive taxis where drivers are kinder.

Another taxi driver opposing a car sharing service killed himself. If the goal of mobility is to be better off together, no more valuable lives should be lost.